The rest of our journey to the city was uneventful. I blame the creature, whatever it was. Even the monsters of the Underdark knew that something far more dangerous than normal was on the prowl, and had taken cover. Despite the lack of monsters, the entire convoy was on high alert. I’m sure we passed through some interesting marvels, but everyone was far too busy watching for danger to sight see. After five hours of exhausting travel, we came across a drow patrol.

“Priestess? I thought your escort was much larger.” The captain said as he came closer.

“We ran into an issue in the Chasm and were forced to split up.”

“Then allow us to guide you back to the city. It shouldn’t take more than two hours at a normal pace.”

“Much appreciated, captain. If you would, replace our scouts. We’ve all been on edge for the past five hours, and everyone could use a bit of rest.” Nodding, the captain scuttled off on his spider to set out guard patrols, and give our guards a much needed break. The priestess surprised me, going to each of them personally and thanking them for their vigilance on our trip. It worked, and each one seemed to perk back up a bit after each personal message.

As we travelled along at a much faster pace, I started to let my vigilance drop a bit. It wouldn’t be needed, since we had doubled our guard contingent. Twenty minutes into our trip, and I found that there is always a surprise lurking in the Underdark. We had just entered a narrower tunnel from a large cavern, and were forced to string out the convoy single file, with Inkler and I following behind the priestess. Suddenly, the side of tunnel burst apart next to the priestess and a massive creature stepped out, shaking the dust off its shoulders. Its head was an armored dome with slits for eyes, and two antennae sticking out. Its body was smooth armor as well, with four arms and two legs. Each elbow had a round armor joint, preventing it from straightening its arms, though the shoulder joints allowed for free movement. One upper hand was shaped like a spade, the other a pickaxe for crushing through rock, while the lower two were three fingered pincers.

Antican Tunneler

Level 106

Anticans are an odd species. They live in colonies like ants, all serving under a mother queen. The others will gladly sacrifice themselves to protect her. When a drone completes certain conditions, they undergo a metamorphosis. Consuming as many minerals and as much food as possible, they spin a cocoon around themselves for their transformation. What emerges is the Antican Tunneler variant. Heavily armored, these juggernauts are luckily incredibly passive for creatures of the Underdark. Their armor protects nearly every part of their body, including covering their mouths. With no way to eat and no need for sleep, the tunneler will work ceaselessly to expand the hive before returning to be consumed alive by the next generation after six or seven days has passed.

Unfortunately for the antican, the priestess was no slouch when it came to battle, and she barely hesitated at the surprise entrance. “[Head dissolver].” She calmly spoke with a flourish of her wrist, sending a sphere of green acid that completely encapsulated the head of the creature. The eyes winked out almost instantly, and the massive creature barely had time to take a step forward before its head was entirely dissolved. The priestess didn’t even watch the creature die, having already turned and headed down the tunnel. “Don’t let your spider eat the remains.” She called over her shoulder.

“Thank Lolth.” Someone behind me said with a relieved sigh when we finally came within view of the gates. Even with our spider’s ability to cross nearly any terrain imaginable, the approach to the city took some time. We were forced to skirt puddles of oil, cross several areas of no man’s land with absolutely no cover, and fields of caltrops. Midway across, we climbed to the top of a ten-feet tall wall, the top of which was covered with guard shacks. I managed a glimpse inside as we passed, and saw they were absolutely brimming with arrows. Hundreds, perhaps thousands per shack.

“What’s the point of this wall?” I asked the priestess, curious.

“To slow and break up an army.” She answered, pointing to the lone path through the wall. “Without a way to scale this wall, that path is the only way through. Should an invading army reach this far, they will have to move through the path a handful at a time. As they come through the end, they are within range of the city walls. It will be a slaughter.”

After her explanation, we dropped back into silence for the last portion of the trip. As we approached, the massive gates were already open, though the small portion I could see were decorated with spider web motifs. The other side caught me off guard. Instead of elegant buildings, there were shacks that looked minutes from falling down. Just past the shacks, were pens of animals that were needed to feed a large city.

“Another defense.” The priestess explained. “Should the walls ever be breached, the slaves will buy us time to organize a counterattack, and their buildings will be set alight to further slow the enemy.” I blinked several times, wondering why I was so surprised by the ruthlessness of the plan. It really was right up the drow way of thinking. Slaves were expendable. We easily moved through the crowded streets, as everyone immediately made way for the large spiders.

“Captain.” The priestess called out. When he reached her side, she continued, “I want you to organize and send out a search party for the rest of the caravan. Make sure you are well armed.”

“Yes, priestess.” He said with a salute, and sped off. By this time, we had passed all of the slave quarters, as well as the majority of the pens. The caravan approached one of the last stables, this one of a much higher quality construction. I unbuckled my legs and followed Inkler down off the side of the spider, nearly falling down as I landed. I wasn’t the only one walking stiffly, about the only ones unaffected were the guards. As I walked off the stiffness, one of the oddest drow I had ever seen walked up to our group. I couldn’t help but stare at him as he went over some things with the priestess.

The first part, was his hair. It was cut short, and seemed to have just hints of blond mixed in with the silver hair of a traditional drow. It looked like he had just gotten up, and hadn’t managed to find his comb recently. One eye was ever so slightly lower than the other, and he had the male version of resting bitch face, whatever you want to call that.

“What the fuck are you staring at?” He snarled as he came up to me.

“Nothing. Just trying to think of who you. . . Gary Busey!” It finally clicked as he was talking. He looked exactly like a pissed off Gary Busey.

“By Lolth, your pronunciation is terrible. It’s Ga’Rree Bushee.” He replied, trilling the R in his first name and making his last name rhyme with shea butter. “You have one minute to get everything of yours offa that spider, before it becomes mine.”

“Already done, but I want to give this spider some treats. How much to ensure it gets their favorite food for a week?”

“Not happening. I ain’t gonna spoil any of my spiders because some soft surface brat thinks doing their job deserves a fuckin treat. Now get lost before I urk-“ I cut off his rant mid sentence by activating my aura. The stress of the last day of travel finally got to me, and I’ll admit I snapped a bit. Several of the guards immediately dropped their hands to swords at the feel of my aura, but the priestess simply raised a hand and smiled.

“Mind your tongue, peasant, or I’ll rip it from your mouth.” I snarled, grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him down so that I was in his face. “If I was interested in the opinion of a shit stain like yourself, I would ask for it. This spider’s fast reactions to orders saved my life from some abomination coming from a deep chasm, and that deserves a fucking reward. So you are going to upgrade its food to the best quality, and keep it there for a week. If you don’t, then it will get to find out what drow tastes like as I feed her your entire family, saving you for last. Do you understand me?”

Panicked nodding answered me, and he managed to stutter, “B, But what abbbbout paying for it?”

“That just got upgraded to your problem. Figure it out.” I gave him a slight shove, watching as he stumbled back. “Relax Inkler, no need to cripple him.” I said, much calmer. Inkler had stalked around behind the stablemaster, and was seconds away from pouncing. He kept the pose for a few seconds, delighting in the terror of the drow who immediately froze when he saw what was behind him.

“Oh my, that lovely aura is back. Please tell me you are keeping it around for a bit?” The priestess asked as she sauntered up and wrapped an arm around my waist. “It makes all my bits, hmmmmm, tingle.”

“It’ll stick around for a bit.” I said, trying not to stare at her obviously erect nipples. “It will stop me from having to kill several stuck up drow as examples.”

“Hmmmm, or we could do both?” She whispered in my ear. “I almost wish I had set up someone so that I could watch you in action and let you ravish me afterward.”

“As fun as that would be, it isn’t happening.” I said, extricating myself from her grip. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think it would be best if I headed to bed for the night. Alone.” I added the alone bit as an afterthought, to prevent any ‘misunderstandings’ from the priestess. It was getting harder to resist her advances, especially since I was in a dry spell that could rival the Atacama Desert.

“Such a tease, letting me bask in that aura that just promises death and violence. Very well. Spider’s know how to wait, and lay the proper trap.” She said while staring into my eyes. “Follow me, we are heading to the temple. There are guest quarters that have been reserved for you.” The guards formed up, and we wound our way through the city streets. It took nearly a half hour of walking through the crowds to get to the same temple that I visited on my previous trip down here. Instead of walking through the front of it, however, we detoured around to one of the sides. We approached a series of cabins that sat next to a practice yard where several drow practiced. Some with weapons, others with magic.

“Don’t worry about the practice noise, the cabins are enchanted. The only outside sound allowed within are alarms and using the door knocker.” She explained, motioning to me to place my hand on a plate to the side of the door. Once I did, the door clicked open and she lead me inside. It was rather spacious, if simple. There was a couch and several chairs in the receiving room, surrounding a low table. “Through the door to the left is the dining area, food has already been prepared and left for you and Inkler. The door to the back of this room leads to the bedroom and attached bathroom. Is there anything I can do before I go?” She asked, eyebrow raised.

“I’m ok for now, thank you.” I answered politely. “Might I ask who has access to these quarters?”

“Of course.” She answered with a wry grin. At the continued silence, I snorted and shook my head. Idiot, you have to be specific with questions like that.

“What I meant, is to ask who has access to these quarters while I will be staying here?”

“Better. There is a housekeeper, though you shouldn’t ever see her. Brownies are rather adept at hiding, and if a slave doesn’t see the master they can’t receive orders. Aside from yourself, the Mistress of Lolth is the only other person who may enter without invitation.” I nodded, realizing that such a prominent figure would have access to whatever she wanted within the city.

“Thank you.”

“What are your plans, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Eat then sleep for tonight. Tomorrow and probably the next day I need to work on my skills, especially with this light magic. After that, I’ll be heading out to hunt for Lucifer.”

“Very well. I will have a guard waiting to guide you through the city should you need it.” She said, before turning and heading out. “Have a pleasant night.” She called over her shoulder, closing the door before I could respond.

“Well buddy, what do you say we see what they have cooked up for us?” I asked Inkler, adding, “Oh, and if you see someone cleaning the house, don’t attack them, got it? I’m not sure how hard it is to catch a brownie, but we don’t want to have to pay the drow for killing or injuring a slave. Got it?” He chuffed his agreement, and we entered the kitchen to find a magnificent spread.

The table was rectangular, six feet by four feet, and covered with food. Fresh fruits, several varieties of vegetables, and an impressive array of meats with and without sauces. There was a smaller table for Inkler, much lower to the ground. It had only meat dishes, and he immediately brushed past me to get at the delightful aromas. We ate our fill, barely putting a dent in the sheer volume of food left for us. Well, I did. Inkler polished off everything from his table, and a few dishes from mine as well. After that, we stumbled into the bedroom and dropped off to sleep. I startled awake several times in the night, to dreams of tentacles and darkness. A few times, I would get a falling sensation just before I fell asleep and would kick out and wake myself back up. Sleep did win through at some point, and I finally got a good night’s sleep.